In My Studio

Over the past few months I’ve been busy in my studio making things. Most of the things end up not much of anything since I’m really just experimenting – generally messing around with new material and processes and figuring things out and making mistakes. Along the way though, some things have turned out alright, interesting in fact. Here’s a showing of what I’ve been up to lately (the images aren’t the best quality, but I hope you get the idea):

I decided to add dimension to my collage cards by making them into collage boxes. Starting with pre-made papier maché boxes I used a découpage technique to adhere the paper squares, finish it off with several coats of sealer, then wet sand it for a clean, smooth, durable finish. It took me a while to get good a this. I am now a fan of Mod Podge.

These are seconds. Or firsts. I tried to make my own box but they turned out lopsided and the lids crooked. Using my line drawings instead of decorative paper was one experiment. I haven’t settled on any of those versions yet.

This is a new direction, a hanging of one of my line drawing series in three-inch square panels. The inspiration for this came from a fiber artist, Sheila Hicks, whose work I saw a couple of years ago at a gallery. Creating the hanging was an experiment using new materials and processes and dimension. I need to make more of these. Actually, I want to make a BIG hanging, floor to ceiling.

 

I found my Japanese calligraphy exercise sheets from 1992 when I lived in Kyoto. I have a stack of these that are not very interesting by themselves anymore, but cut up into three-inch squares and rearranged, they start to take on a different quality with the bold black/white, positive/negative shapes. Still experimenting with these.

The top image is from my second term printmaking class and the technique is lift ground for drawing. I actually made a mistake in the process but was delighted by the result anyway. Printmaking is such a mystery. There are many steps and you just don’t know what it’s going to look like until you lift the paper off the press. This one I titled "Writing Spirals" and entered into The Art League Gallery Student/Faculty Show (bottom image).

I returned to my familiar mark making after all that paper cutting and gluing with the boxes and panels. I took a small handful of dried hay, dipped it in gouache, and made marks on a page. John thought the top one looked like a visual musical composition. The bottom one reminds me of twirling and cartwheels, something I liked doing as a kid in our big side yard.

The top two images are part of the same series, but I took it a step further. I cut up some of my mark making images that weren’t strong on their own into one-inch squares and rearranged it. A final of the top image was titled “Five Square Mark Making One” and entered into Del Ray Artisan’s twentieth anniversary all-member show (along with “Writing Spirals”, also shown in the bottom image).

I feel like I haven’t had this kind of a sustained wave of creativity since my time on Martha’s Vineyard nearly a decade ago. That sense of self and joy when I am doing my artwork makes me so happy. Thanks for letting me share what I’ve been up to lately in (and out of) my studio.